Food Advertising
A holistic response to a multi-factorial problem
Of course, advertising does have an effect on food choices, otherwise companies would not advertise. Nevertheless, there is only evidence of a ‘modest direct effect’1 on children’s food preferences, consumption and behaviour. In the context of the multitude of factors that determine individual food preferences, consumption and behaviour, advertising is a minor factor.2
Many studies have pinpointed the lack of physical activity as the single most important cause of obesity3. While calorie intake has fallen,4 the amount of energy people are expending has decreased sharply in recent years as lifestyles have changed5. More sedentary lifestyles derive from a host of factors: a steady migration of workers from manufacturing to services and office work, the increase in car use, the rise of the Internet and changing play patterns by the digital generation as a result of new technologies, safety fears and the reduced number of spaces available for physical exercise. Scheduled exercise has also been dramatically reduced in schools6.
Research also unequivocally demonstrates the importance of socio-economic determinants, while illustrating how children’s diets and their consumption of particular product categories (such as chocolate and soft drinks) are in no way linked to their Body Mass Index.7
Many studies have pinpointed the lack of physical activity as the single most important cause of obesity3. While calorie intake has fallen,4 the amount of energy people are expending has decreased sharply in recent years as lifestyles have changed5. More sedentary lifestyles derive from a host of factors: a steady migration of workers from manufacturing to services and office work, the increase in car use, the rise of the Internet and changing play patterns by the digital generation as a result of new technologies, safety fears and the reduced number of spaces available for physical exercise. Scheduled exercise has also been dramatically reduced in schools6.
Research also unequivocally demonstrates the importance of socio-economic determinants, while illustrating how children’s diets and their consumption of particular product categories (such as chocolate and soft drinks) are in no way linked to their Body Mass Index.7
1. Ofcom, Childhood Obesity – Food Advertising in Context, 2004; Hastings et al, Review of research on the effects of food promotion to children, 2003.
2. Among the most important determinants of food preferences, consumption and behaviour, individual taste preferences, price and familiarity and the family food environment play the major role (See for example: Ofcom, Childhood Obesity – Food Advertising in Context, 2004; Johnson et al., 1991; Dickinson, R., 1997).
There is broad consensus that the causes of obesity and its related diseases are multi-factorial (including genetic predisposition, diet, sedentary lifestyles, socio-economic factors, etc). Does Children’s Screen Time Predict Requests for Advertised Products? Cross-sectional and Prospective Analyses, Lisa J. Chamberlain, MD, MPH; Yun Wang, MS; Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH- April 2006 and published in the Archives of Paediatric Adolescent Medicine (From Pg 366 or 4/6): "Third graders reported an average of nearly 11 hours per week of TV watching and nearly 23 hours per week of total screen media use. They also reported requesting an average of about 2 foods or drinks every 3 weeks. An extra 1 hour per day in total weekly TV viewing at baseline was associated with an [one] average extra request for an advertised food/drink about every 6 to 13 weeks (0.08-0.15 requests per week) 7 to 20 weeks later, and an extra 1 hour per day of total screen media exposure was associated with an [one] average extra request for an advertised food/drink about every 13 to 24 weeks (0.08-0.04 requests per week) 7 to 20 months later." The number of requests for advertised products seems hardly out of the ordinary, and the incremental effect of increased media exposure is actually negligible. It seems unlikely that this level of requests could have anything but a minimal impact on an individual's diet and it even more unlikely it could impact long-term health indicators. In addition, requests do not reflect actual consumption – children, even third graders, will usually heavily rely on parental purchasing decisions.
There is broad consensus that the causes of obesity and its related diseases are multi-factorial (including genetic predisposition, diet, sedentary lifestyles, socio-economic factors, etc). Does Children’s Screen Time Predict Requests for Advertised Products? Cross-sectional and Prospective Analyses, Lisa J. Chamberlain, MD, MPH; Yun Wang, MS; Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH- April 2006 and published in the Archives of Paediatric Adolescent Medicine (From Pg 366 or 4/6): "Third graders reported an average of nearly 11 hours per week of TV watching and nearly 23 hours per week of total screen media use. They also reported requesting an average of about 2 foods or drinks every 3 weeks. An extra 1 hour per day in total weekly TV viewing at baseline was associated with an [one] average extra request for an advertised food/drink about every 6 to 13 weeks (0.08-0.15 requests per week) 7 to 20 weeks later, and an extra 1 hour per day of total screen media exposure was associated with an [one] average extra request for an advertised food/drink about every 13 to 24 weeks (0.08-0.04 requests per week) 7 to 20 months later." The number of requests for advertised products seems hardly out of the ordinary, and the incremental effect of increased media exposure is actually negligible. It seems unlikely that this level of requests could have anything but a minimal impact on an individual's diet and it even more unlikely it could impact long-term health indicators. In addition, requests do not reflect actual consumption – children, even third graders, will usually heavily rely on parental purchasing decisions.
3. WHO Technical Report 916, Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases: "Energy expenditure through physical activity is an important part of the energy balance equation that determines body weight. A decrease in energy expenditure through decreased physical activity is likely to be one of the major factors contributing to the global epidemic of overweight and obesity (…) The amount of physical activity has been greatly reduced both at home and in school, as well as by increasing use of mechanized transport." "Lack of physical activity is already a global health hazard and is a prevalent and rapidly increasing problem in both developed and developing countries." "A sizeable proportion of deaths in overweight and obese populations are probably a result of low levels of cardio-respiratory fitness rather than obesity per se."
‘Sport Participation in the European Union', presentation by Prof. Maarten van Bottenburg to EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, July 2005: "Four out of ten Europeans are sportingly inactive and indicate that they do not do any kind of exercise or sport whatsoever during an entire year."
European Commission Green Paper on Promoting Healthy Diets and Physical Activity, December 2005: "A 2003 Eurobarometer survey [European Commission (2003), Special Eurobarometer 183-6/Wave 58.2 - European Opinion Research Group] showed that around 60% of Europeans (EU 15) had no vigorous physical activity at all in a typical week, and more than 40% did not even have moderate physical activity in a typical week. Europe-wide, only about one third of schoolchildren appear to be meeting recognised physical activity guidelines [Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey, 2001/2002]."
‘Sport Participation in the European Union', presentation by Prof. Maarten van Bottenburg to EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, July 2005: "Four out of ten Europeans are sportingly inactive and indicate that they do not do any kind of exercise or sport whatsoever during an entire year."
European Commission Green Paper on Promoting Healthy Diets and Physical Activity, December 2005: "A 2003 Eurobarometer survey [European Commission (2003), Special Eurobarometer 183-6/Wave 58.2 - European Opinion Research Group] showed that around 60% of Europeans (EU 15) had no vigorous physical activity at all in a typical week, and more than 40% did not even have moderate physical activity in a typical week. Europe-wide, only about one third of schoolchildren appear to be meeting recognised physical activity guidelines [Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey, 2001/2002]."
4. UK Health Select Committee Report on Obesity: "Summing up the energy equation, the Royal College of General Practitioners suggested that food intake had fallen on average by 750 kcal per day; but activity levels by 800 kcal. Out of this small imbalance has come the wave of obesity."
Jebb, S. and Prentice, A., "Obesity in Britain: gluttony or sloth?" BMJ 1995;311: 437-439, quoted in UK Health Select Committee Report on Obesity: "The paradox of increasing obesity in the face of decreasing food intake can only be explained if levels of energy expenditure have declined faster than energy intake, thus leading to an over-consumption of energy relative to a greatly reduced requirement (…) in sharp contrast with the suggestion that a secular drift towards high fat diets has induced people to overeat, there is evidence, based on the National Food Survey's annual measures of household food consumption, that the British are becoming fatter in spite of consuming less energy than in the 1970s. Even after adjustments for meals eaten outside the home, and for consumption of alcohol, soft drinks, and confectionery, average per capita energy intake seems to have declined by 20% since 1970."
5. National Audit Office, Tackling Obesity in England, 2001: "Extra physical activity involved in daily living 50 years ago, compared with today was the equivalent to running a marathon a week."
6. UK National Office of Statistics, The Health of Children and Young People, 2004: "The proportion of school children spending less than one hour per week on physical education (PE) rose from five per cent in 1994 to 18 per cent in 1999."
7. Kiel Obesity Prevention study, 2003; Koletzko et al 2004
